Your Questions, Answered

A med spa is a spa setting where the treatments follow medical standards. At Beauty and Fly, the injectables, lasers, microneedling and medical-grade facials are performed by Catherine Curtin, MSN, FNP-C, at the Bronxville and Bridgehampton offices.

Yes. Catherine stocks Botox, Dysport and Daxxify, and picks between them by area and by how you have responded before. Daxxify is the longest-acting of the three for many people. You will know which product is going in and the reasoning behind it before treatment starts.

Botox is a purified protein that relaxes the muscles folding your skin into expression lines. Soften that movement and the lines on the forehead, between the brows and around the eyes soften with it. The result builds over days. How much movement is left is the decision that matters most, and it is made conservatively.

For most people Botox holds around three to four months, and the strong forehead or a heavy frown can run shorter. The area treated and how hard you move it change the answer more than anything else. At your consultation Catherine tells you what to expect for your areas and when she wants to see you next.

Not everyone's neuromodulator kicks in at the same time. Some people see effects within 24 to 48 hours, for some it takes a few days, and for some it takes a full two to four weeks. It depends on the patient, the area treated, and the neuromodulator chosen. If an adjustment is needed it is made at a follow-up visit, once the full effect is in.

Botox is made from a purified form of botulinum toxin type A, a protein produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. The active ingredient is onabotulinumtoxinA, used in very small, measured doses. In cosmetic work it goes only into the muscles selected, and your body breaks it down gradually from there. Dysport works from the same toxin class, with abobotulinumtoxinA as its active ingredient, and Daxxify uses daxibotulinumtoxinA, stabilized with peptides and containing no human albumin.

Botox has a long medical history behind it at cosmetic doses. Side effects are usually minor and short-lived, such as a small bruise or brief tenderness. Catherine goes through your health history before treating. People who need extra caution, medical evaluation, or postponement include those with myasthenia gravis, Lambert-Eaton syndrome, ALS, or other neuromuscular disorders, and pregnancy and breastfeeding are contraindicated because there is not adequate safety data.

The evidence does not link Botox to cancer. It is placed in small, localized amounts to relax a selected muscle, and the body breaks it down from there. Dose and placement are what keep it doing only what is intended, which is the part that gets the most attention. Bring any specific medical history to your consultation and Catherine will address it there.

Botox is priced per unit, so you pay for what your anatomy needs. Standard pricing is $15.50 per unit, and Beauty Bank members pay less per unit; the figures are on the Beauty Bank page. The visit where your number is worked out is complimentary and requires no deposit. Published ranges sit on the treatment pricing page.

Dermal fillers are gels, usually hyaluronic acid, that add support where the face has thinned or folded. Restylane and the RHA family are the workhorses for cheeks, lips and the jawline. Thin skin shows every correction placed underneath it. Filler is $750 to $900 per syringe. The consultation is complimentary and there is no deposit.

Hyaluronic acid filler swells a little at first, and that swelling eases over the following days. What you see on day one is an early stage of the result. Catherine reviews the area at a follow-up visit and refines it then if it needs more.

Lip filler is $750 to $900 per syringe, and one syringe is enough for most people who want a soft change. The consultation where the amount your lips need is worked out is complimentary, and there is no deposit to book it. Ranges for the other treatments sit on the pricing page.

Lip filler generally holds six to twelve months, and lips sit at the shorter end of that because they move all day. Your metabolism, the product chosen for your anatomy, and how much was placed all play into how long it lasts.

Some swelling and tenderness in the first day or two is normal. Cold sores are the one lip-specific thing Catherine plans around, so tell her if you get them. Full written aftercare goes home with you, and the Botox aftercare page covers the rest of what is asked of you after an injectable.

Lip injections can wake up a cold sore in anyone prone to them. Tell Catherine during the consultation if you get them, even rarely. That changes the approach, including medication beforehand when it is appropriate for you, and it is a simple thing to get ahead of.

Sculptra is poly-L-lactic acid, a biostimulator that asks your own skin to build collagen over time. Nothing looks different the week you have it. The change arrives across a planned series, and that slow arrival is the reason Catherine chooses it.

Sculptra is classed as a biostimulator. A hyaluronic acid filler places volume you can see the same day, while Sculptra works underneath by prompting your own collagen to rebuild across a series. Catherine chooses it when the face needs rebuilding broadly and nobody needs to see a change happen on a Tuesday.

Microneedling uses very fine needles to create tiny, controlled channels in the skin, which sets off a healing response that lays down collagen over the following weeks. It softens scarring and rough texture. Microneedling is $400 on its own, and $200 to $500 more when PRP, PDRN, exosomes or serums are added, which is what Catherine usually recommends.

The clinical support for acne scarring and texture is good, and it comes from collagen your own skin makes. One session will not get you there. Catherine sets the depth and the number of sessions after she has examined your skin, and she adds PRP when what she sees calls for it.

Yes, for most skin types, provided the depth is set for the skin being treated. It works with your own healing response, with no heat and no light involved. Catherine reviews your health history first, and she moves the appointment when active acne, a skin infection or a flare makes treating unsafe that day.

That is the fear Catherine hears most, and it decides how she works. She leaves movement where movement belongs, and she under-treats at a first visit so there is somewhere to go at the review. Plenty of what patients point out at a consultation, she tells them to leave as it is.

Three to six sessions spaced a few weeks apart is the usual range, with scarring sitting at the higher end and general skin quality at the lower. Catherine sets your number once she has looked closely at the skin, and she revises it as you respond. Skin that answers quickly needs fewer visits than first expected.

Vivace pairs fine needles with radiofrequency energy, so the deeper layer of skin is heated at the same moment tiny channels are made on the surface. Texture smooths, fine lines soften and the skin reads firmer over a planned series. It is what Catherine reaches for when tightening matters as much as texture.

Three sessions spaced about a month apart is the common starting plan, and laxity or deeper scarring can take more. Your skin needs that gap to build collagen between visits. The number comes from what Catherine sees at your consultation, and the series is matched to your skin.

Collagen built during a Vivace series tends to hold about a year, then eases gradually as time does its usual work. How much laxity you started with moves that figure either way. In person, Catherine talks through what to expect for your skin and how often she would repeat treatment to hold it.

Cost depends on the areas treated and whether Catherine stacks Vivace with a peel or a biostimulator, which she often does. You get the figure for your own plan at a complimentary consultation, with no deposit, before you decide anything. Published ranges for the other treatments sit on the treatment pricing page.

Vivace suits many skin types, and with radiofrequency the settings matter more than with almost any other treatment. Catherine reviews your history, examines your skin, and changes the settings or the date when the day calls for it. She has worked in aesthetic medicine for nearly 20 years.

A peel places a solution on the skin that loosens the dull outer layer so fresher skin can surface as it heals. Strengths run from very gentle no-peel formulas up to stronger ones. Alongside the VI Peel, Catherine works with Facteur 5, PRX, Linder Health and Toskani, and matches the formula to your concern and your calendar.

Non-surgical tightening uses energy to build collagen in the deeper layer, so skin sits firmer over months. For the face and neck, Catherine uses Vivace RF microneedling or Agnes RF, and which one she chooses depends on where the laxity sits.

A vampire facial is microneedling with platelet-rich plasma taken from a small draw of your own blood. The growth factors in PRP go on while the channels are still open, which is why tone and texture shift more than with needling alone. Nothing foreign goes into your skin.

A PRP facial uses platelet-rich plasma, concentrated in a centrifuge from one tube of your blood and applied alongside treatments such as microneedling. The growth factors doing the work are already yours. Catherine looks at the spun plasma and decides there and then how much that session needs.

Catherine postpones elective treatments such as PRP and microneedling through pregnancy and breastfeeding. It is a precaution and she holds to it. She can still map your skincare and the treatment sequence with you now, so it is ready the moment starting is medically appropriate.

Acne scars respond to treatments that rebuild collagen and resurface, mainly microneedling and RF microneedling, sometimes with laser placed later in the sequence. Whether your scars are indented or raised decides the mix entirely. Catherine examines the skin closely, then gives you an order to do things in.

Flat red or brown marks left after a breakout usually fade on their own, faster with daily sunscreen and the right actives. True indented or raised scarring stays. Collagen-building treatment in clinic is what changes those, and Catherine tells you which of your marks are which.

Retinol helps with shallow scarring and leftover discoloration by pushing turnover and supporting collagen, and across months that is a real difference. Deep textural scars need in-clinic treatment alongside it. Catherine builds the home routine to work with the treatment done in clinic.

Hyperpigmentation is skin that has made extra melanin, so a patch looks darker than the skin around it. Sun spots and the discoloration left behind by breakouts both sit under that one word, and they do not behave the same way. Catherine looks at your skin under proper light before naming what is being treated.

Pigment work pairs in-clinic treatment with sunscreen worn every day. In clinic that usually means a peel or the NOUVAderm laser. Some discoloration is stubborn enough to be managed over the long term, and Catherine covers that timeline at your consultation so the plan holds through a summer of sun exposure.

Fat dissolving injections break down small, stubborn pockets that stay put through diet and exercise, the area under the chin being the classic one. Catherine uses Kybella, and the change builds slowly across a series of visits. It refines shape in one focused area and does nothing for overall weight.

Fat cells that are treated are cleared by the body and do not come back in that spot, so the change there tends to hold. Keeping your weight steady keeps it looking right, since untreated cells nearby can still enlarge if you gain. Catherine goes through all of that with you before you commit to a series.

Catherine's wellness work stays with injectables, regenerative treatments such as PRP and PRF, and medical-grade skincare. If you are looking for internal wellness therapies, your primary care provider is the right person for that conversation. She keeps to what she can do well.

PRP hair restoration uses platelet-rich plasma prepared from your own blood and worked across the scalp to support thicker-looking hair. Catherine pairs it with the AquaFirme device, which uses ultrasound to prepare the scalp before the PRP goes on, so it lands on skin ready to take it.

An initial series of three to four treatments, roughly a month between each, is the usual starting point, followed by maintenance. Your starting density and how long you have been shedding both change that. No number is given before your scalp has been examined, and none of this is fast.